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Topic Review (Newest First)

09-08-2008 07:30 PM

refugee133

Battenless Main sail Reasons

I recently prepared my Columbia 9.6 for a trip to Hawaii from the Puget Sound. As part of that preparation I decided to build (or have built) an 'offshore' suite of sails. That, of course, required significant research before I put Doyle to work making them. Doyle and I came up with a negative roached, battenless and no headboard main with a shortened leach as the preferred offshore sail for my particular vessel. Reasons:

1. No headboard = no headboard to get caught in shroud lines while trying to raise, strike or reef the sail off the wind.
2. No battens = simpler, also nothing to get caught in shroud lines.
3. Negative roach = reduced leach flutter compared to similar battenless main without negative roach.
4. Shortened (by 13") leach was my idea. I stand 6 feet, 2 inches in the cockpit. Even though I use a preventer, getting hit in the head by the boom during an accidental gybe was a safety concern. Shortening the leach ensured the boom clears my skull by several happy inches.

Here's what on-the-water testing revealed since:
1. It still ain't easy to hoist or strike the main off the wind. But it can be done and it doesn't get caught in the shroud lines.
2. There is some leach flutter. I expected this, but judicious use of the leach line pretty much eliminates it.
3. Reduced weather helm, especially when close hauled and approaching hull speed. The boat just plain balances better, to the point where I can keep the main driving well past the point where I normally would expect to be forced to 'feather' the more traditional, battened main that I normally use for Puget Sound cruising and club racing.
4. Flaking / tieing down the main onto the boom is simpler w/out having to worry about aligning the battens parallel to the boom.
5. Power loss? I didn't buy the battenless main so that I could ghost along in light air. I bought it for offshore, trade wind sailing. In similar conditions here in the Puget Sound I simply don't notice any difference in boat speed when the wind gets above 10 knots. Additionally, the helm is better balanced and the boat more comfortable. I'm sure that there would be a boat speed difference if I could do an on-the-spot simultaneous comparison, but I'm satisfied that the difference would be small. Heck, there's probably a point where not having to drag the rudder through the water sideways to counter weather helm makes the battenless main drive the boat faster.
6. A well-balanced helm makes my servo-pendulum self-steering system breathe easier too.

So, would I recommend a battenless main for offshore use? Generally yes, but I also will be quick to say it depends on both the boat and the crew. For an interesting discussion of such sails on ketches, check out main-sail

04-28-2008 10:19 PM

SimonV

Ah... where you there, was it yor kid making all the noise. Not everything but quite a bit made you think.

I can only answer the question in relation to the batten less main. (Fresh from the boat show) For a cruising vessel not having battens has a number of advantages. e.g. There is less wear on the sail and it should last three times longer than a battened sail, it can be reefed without having to head up wind, in fact it can be reefed while still powered up, it can be let out further when running. A good sail maker can make a proper main without battens work perfectly well, if they say they canít, find a proper sail maker. There were other reasons but a kid at the back of the seminar would not shut up.

Don't believe everything the Pardees have to say.

04-21-2008 09:05 AM

Jeff_H

I believe that this may be a boat that I worked on while I was working with Charlie in the early 1980's. If so she was designed to have a mainsail with roach and battens. These boats were intentionally slightly under canvased because they were also slightly under-ballasted for their drag and need every inch of sail area that these boats can have.

Now to correct the misinformation above. Talk to almost any knowledgeable sailmaker, if you care even slightly about sail shape, going battenless with a hollow leech greatly shortens the life of a mainsail since it requires much higher leech loadings to avoid leech flutter, in fact the shortest of all sail batten options. Without battens in high winds you need to carry a very tight leech line to minimize leech flutter, and that tight leech induces more weather helm than the sail area in a properly shaped roach with long battens. Going to heavier sail cloth simply aggrevates the light air problems with battenless mainsails but does little for the bias loading with battenless mainsails.

A mainsail with full length battens has the longest lifespan of all of the three choices, followed by mainsails with full length head battens and extended but not full length lowers. As SD notes it is important to have sacrificial chafe patches where the battens hit the shrouds. (Mine lasts approximately 2,000 sailing hours and are quick and easy to replace using dacron stickiback.)

Jeff

04-21-2008 02:51 AM

SimonV

I can only answer the question in relation to the batten less main. (Fresh from the boat show) For a cruising vessel not having battens has a number of advantages. e.g. There is less wear on the sail and it should last three times longer than a battened sail, it can be reefed without having to head up wind, in fact it can be reefed while still powered up, it can be let out further when running. A good sail maker can make a proper main without battens work perfectly well, if they say they can’t, find a proper sail maker. There were other reasons but a kid at the back of the seminar would not shut up.

04-21-2008 01:19 AM

Sailormann

Quote:

1. Will replacing the battenless, roachless mainsail with a full-batten main with roach likely increase weather helm?

I think it will, but the difference will be quite slight. I think that you'll find the increased lift from the better sail shape will help the boat track more steadily.

Quote:

2. Are there any good reasons for having no battens and no roach on the mainsail of a cruising boat? None of the reasons I have heard seem very persuasive to me.

You mention that this is a "one off" cruising boat. It is possible that the sails were not made by a commercial loft, in the interests of economy. The only logical reason I can think of for no roach and no battens is to save money.

Quote:

3. Is a cutter-designed boat, with the mast positioned further aft, inevitably going to have some weather helm when sailed as a sloop.

If the foresail is too small (i.e. - if you are using one of the cutter headsails) - yes. You could probably balance it with a 130 (or larger) genoa.

That said... they can often give better performance than un-battened sails. They tend to flog less and are often easier to reef and flake, since the battens tend to keep the sail aligned. They allow you to carry more sail area than you could with out them.

SD, it's true that battens require extra cost/work, but unless the mainsail in question has an extremely high aspect ratio (not likely to be found on a cruising cutter), an un-battened conventional-variety mainsail will never be able to hold an aerofoil shape properly.

Adding roach will only make it worse because there is nothing to support the leech. Heck, I've even see people battened jibs!

By not having the stiffness aft that the battens provide, maximum draft will be a lot further aft than normal and this could induce weather helm.

04-20-2008 04:47 PM

sailingdog

One problem with full-batten mainsails is that batten pockets are often major sources of wear and tear on the sails.

They are also heavier than non-battened sails...since the battens add weight to the sail...and so does the additional roach area.

They are often harder to raise or lower due to the pressure that the battens put against the sailtrack on the mast, and many people resort to expensive battcar systems to deal with that issue.

They're more expensive to buy, since they require additional work and materials.

That said... they can often give better performance than un-battened sails. They tend to flog less and are often easier to reef and flake, since the battens tend to keep the sail aligned. They allow you to carry more sail area than you could with out them.

04-20-2008 04:28 PM

JohnRPollard

Faster makes a good point about mast rake. Too much rake could induce excessive weather helm. That's something worth checking. But there are a lot of other factors that come into play in the overall design -- it might be worth researching to see if this particular design has a reputation for exessive weather helm. Just tossing out possibilities -- it may have nothing to do with the sails or rig, it could be e.g. that the rudder is not adequately sized.

I have seen mainsails on cruising boats where the (short-handed) owners went to a negative roach and eliminated battens. The idea as explained to me was to deliberately depower the main a bit, to thereby postpone the point when a reef bacame necessary, and to eliminate a source of chafe on the sails for long-distance voyaging. But with the advent of full-batten mainsails systems even for cruising boats, I haven't seen that done much anymore.

Hopefully JeffH or some of the other knowledgeable designers here can offer additional insight.

The questions I am left with about which I would invite enlightenment are:

1. Will replacing the battenless, roachless mainsail with a full-batten main with roach likely increase weather helm?

Logically it should; you are adding area aft of the current center of effort. However this may be offset with a newer sail that should have a flatter more efficient shape that may in fact contribute a bit more drive and less helm. (though to be honest if this will in fact apply to a full keel boat I'm not sure)